Prayer Diary

On a dangerously stormy night in 1901, the lifeboat crew responded to a boat in distress. Their lifeboat was eventually launched after hours of struggle only to be hurled back onto the beach by the heaviest of seas. All but three men drowned beneath her.

A brave determination to reach those at risk is still evident in today’s lifeboat crews but also in the recent formation of Caister Cares, a network of churches, schools, local poor relief charities and other voluntary bodies keen to build on partnerships birthed by Covid. The people of Caister may not be in peril on the sea but many are drowning in debt, stricken by benefit cuts, swamped by rising food and fuel costs. “One of our first responses,” reports the Rector, David Wells, who initiated and now chairs Caister Cares, “is to launch our own community larder.”